Kim, Mary and I are back from our Moab adventure and this is only the first of a "few" blog posts to come from the Coven's Moab Trip. What you see in this first photo is the Moab slickrock, so named because of the horses slipping on it as they crossed the terrain with their metal shoes. In the 80's mountain bikers began coming to test their skills on the rock and soon jeeps and hummers followed to ride the sometimes 41 degree rock faces.
My son Jason works for Western Rivers Expeditions, the company which owns Moab Adventure Center. From here one can rent mountain bikes, boats, or sign up for a Hummer ride over the slickrock. Knowing that we were going to Moab, he encouraged us to try a Hummer Tour. He then made it too easy to say "Of course we would love to do it." as he facilitated a hugely discounted charge for the tour. Unfortunately for us, he failed to tell us the "truth" about these tours, which is: what is exciting for someone his age is generally considered sheer terror for the "over fifty set. While we all loved it and are grateful for his efforts - Jason, stay away from Kim for awhile!
We started out at 5:30 for the sunset tour, traveling from the Center through the back roads of Moab until we reached the slickrock formations. From the mirror you get a glimpse of Larry our driver. He was a great "experienced" driver who kept us securely on the roads even when the grades seemed to reach 90 degrees.
Believe me, we are going straight down in this photo. As Kim's eyes were
tightly closed during these portions of the trip, I became the designated photographer. At the first stop it was decided that Kim, who was riding shotgun was sitting in prime photo taking territory and as such it was being totally wasted on her. She was quickly relegated to a seat directly behind Larry. Still a great view, when she opened her eyes!
The black marks are from hundreds, if not thousands, of tires going over the slickrock each season. Not much chance to go in the wrong direction.
We three made it to the top and as you can see we all survived nicely, smiles all around. As noted below, Kim was soon walking around the rocks like a pro.
Another tour met us on top and their guide sat down with us while the larger group went on to view the Colorado River from above. He was seventh generation from families who had arrived to settle the area shortly after the pioneers came into the larger Utah territory. He had worked his parents and then his own cattle ranch, had been a deputy sheriff in Moab and now did tours such as we were on. He was charming, had a great western accent, and wore a cowboy hat - what more could you want. He kept us enthralled with his stories long after Larry arrived to scoot us on our way.
Being on the sunset tour meant, of course, we would be returning after dark following the same course we drove up on (that is a whole other story and one I will leave for Kim to tell.) Luckily, the beauty of a sunset on red rock took our minds off the return trip until the bitter end.
It was decided that while not something we would do again (though thinking if over, I just might bring Roger down to join me on one), it was definitely worth the ride. One more adventure as the Coven and one more notch in our cowboy belts.
OMG, is that what it looked like? My eyes were shut the whole way! I thought I would kill Jason as we were going up the rock, but it was really worth it once we reached the top and saw the views and the sunset.
ReplyDeletePS, next time I must find a fat cowboy, that one makes me look way too chubby! Still, cuddled by a cowboy is a tick in the fantasy box for me - though I admit I had a Brad Pitt in Thelma & Louise lookalike in mind during that particular fantasy!